Last Resort
by The Real Runey
Summary: Kageyama Reiji. To some, a former commander. To others, an influential figure of the soccer world. But to most, a great enemy. However, one man cannot do everything by himself. He needs someone to help behind the scenes, someone to handle the dirty work. Preferably, someone easy to trust-like someone very, very close to his own home.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

* * *

As the dust cleared, it became obvious that the bars had not struck a single player on Raimon's team. Kageyama's sinister grin was replaced with a frown.

Kageyama watched the screen in front of him as Kidou ran down the hall. He was followed by Genda and Jimon, and that irritating detective. Kageyama scowled even more. He was trapped here. He would have to use his last resort.

"Come here."

A figure stepped out of the shadows. "Yes?"

"Kidou is on his way here, and he's dragging the detective with him. There's no time for me to get out of here." He leaned forward in his seat. "I've lost my grip on Teikoku. But no matter. They have become weak. After this, we execute Project Z."

The commander picked up a flash drive off his desk and handed it to the girl standing aside. "You know what you need to do, Rin."

"Yes, father."

* * *

The rapid clicking of computer keys was the only sound in the room. The person situated at the computer pulled a flash drive from their pocket after a few minutes of typing and plugged it in. The light from the screen shone onto the flash drive for a moment, illuminating an engraved letter 'Z.'

The person in question was a young girl; a second year in junior high, in fact. The computer screen left a bright gleam on the surface of her squared sunglasses, which effectively his the girl's eyes. Her long hair, tied into high ponytails, had a dull purple hue. She wore a uniform of dark green with red trim that could only belong to Teikoku. Soon, she wouldn't be needing it anymore.

After the file on the flash drive had finished copying, the girl unplugged it and stood. Placing it on the floor, she brought her foot down on the object a few times, effectively rendering it useless and making it impossible to get any information out of it.

Sitting back down in front of the computer, she opened the red file. 'Project Z.'

"Now..." she said to herself, scanning the first few lines, "I have some recruiting to do."


	2. Chapter 2

The day was overcast. It was one of those dreary days, when no one really goes outside unless they have to, or if they're dreary people themselves. It was the perfect day for taking advantage of people.

"Sissy boy!"

A golden-haired boy fell to the ground from a punch. He coughed, his red eyes opened wide. His attackers towered over him, cackling.

"Cut your hair, bastard!"

"What's wrong? Too much of a GIRL to fight back?" More cackling.

The boy simply lay curled up on the ground, silent. The bullies must have decided they'd had enough, walking away as if they hadn't just beaten someone up. The boy pushed himself up, sitting against the alley wall. Before long, the murky gray sky above began to spill raindrops. Even the clouds were spitting on him.

He was so pathetic.

"I...wish I were strong..." he said softly, staring up at the sky with empty eyes. "I'm so weak..."

"You sure are."

Startled, he whipped his head toward the voice. He was met with a girl wearing a black raincoat. Her hands were shoved in her pockets, and her hood was up, though some of her long hair spilled out. The oddest thing about her was that she was wearing sunglasses, even in the middle of the rain. Even if he couldn't see her eyes, he could feel them staring at him-no, it almost felt as if she was staring into his very soul. She smirked at him, taunting him with her mere expression.

"Who the heck are you?" The boy squinted at her, suspicion in his gaze.

The girl chuckled, leering over him. "How about I tell you who you are first?"

He furrowed his brow. "What the-?"

"You," she interrupted, "are a pathetic, frail little kid."

"I-I'm not a-" he tried to sound strong, but his voice wavered.

As she began talking, she started walking ever-so-slowly toward him, a smirk on her face. "You're WEAK. Even this rain is keeping you from moving; it's weighing you down."

The boy's eyes were wide; he watched her approach him with a slacked jaw. With every word that poured out of her mouth, the miserable pit that was already in his heart grew and grew. She was right, of course. EVERYONE was stronger than him. Those bullies, the people at school-hell, even the weather was beating him to its will. He truly was a pitiful creature. She was just another bully, too. He was weaker than her as well.

The girl had stopped right next to him. He didn't bother to look at her.

"Yeah, you're a weak piece of crap. But we can make you strong."

At once, the boy jerked his head to face the girl. She had crouched down so that she was on eye level with him. He jumped back, startled. She laughed at this. Her eyes were barely showing through her glasses. They were angled and bright and they promised danger.

"S...strong?" He gulped out.

"Yes. Stronger than those bullies. Stronger than this rain. Stronger than you know." She paused.

Elation began to rise inside of him. Strong? His fragile self could be strong?

"But more than that," she interrupted his thoughts. "We can make you stronger than anyone you know. We can make you stronger than humanity itself. We can give you the power of the gods!"

"T-The gods?" He liked the sound of that. A strange feeling welled up inside him. He felt...powerful.

"Who are you?" She asked him, standing over him once again.

"Afuro Terumi..."

"Afuro Terumi, huh?" She laughed a little. "Perfect. Listen to me. We will turn you into a god. From this day, you are no longer human-you are BEYOND human. You are the god Aphrodi."

"Aphrodi..." A twisted smile gradually creeped up his face. "The god Aphrodi..."

The girl chuckled, muttering to herself, "My work is done." Aphrodi was too wrapped up in himself to notice. With that, she turned around, motioning for Aphrodi to follow.

"Who are you?" He questioned, falling into step behind her.

She gave him a smirk. "You will call me Kageyama."

* * *

Rin sat back in her chair, sighing. Scouting out Zeus's new captain had not been easy. They had to have potential for soccer, obviously, but they also had to believe her words. She'd tried a few people before Aphrodi, but everyone had either been intimidated, too skeptical, or had just started laughing in her face. Those people didn't walk away without extensive injuries. Part of it was to prevent them from telling anyone what they'd discussed-but it was mostly so she could beat up the ones who hadn't taken her seriously.

A steady knock reached her ears. She turned toward the door, calling out, "Come in."

When the door opened, Aphrodi was revealed, clad in his Zeus uniform. In Rin's opinion, the uniforms were kind of flashy and odd, but at least they looked the part.

"What do you need, Aphrodi? I'm busy," she said.

"Forgive me for asking, but...where is the other person?" He asked after a pause.

She blinked. "Other person?"

"You told me that there was someone besides you as the mastermind behind all this-a commander."

Kageyama sighed and pushed her glasses up onto her head to rub her eyes, before letting them plop back down onto her face. "The bastard's late."

Almost exactly after those words left her lips, the door opened once again, this time without a knock. Kageyama subconsciously straightened in her chair, placing full attention on the entering person. Aphrodi watched her change in demeanor with surprise, and followed her eyes to the door. Could this be...?

"Welcome back, father."

The intimidating man gave the girl a nod, sporting Aphrodi out of the corner of his eye. "Who's this?" Even his voice was menacing. Aphrodi recognized this man...he was influential in the world of soccer. Aphrodi felt a shiver go down his spine; sure, Kageyama is frightening, but even she pales in comparison to this man. This must be the commander.

"This is the new captain for Zeus. I recruited him earlier today," she answered.

"I see. You sure took your sweet time. We have only the captain so far?" Rin opened her mouth to speak, but the man turned straight to Aphrodi again. "You. Who are you?"

"Aphrodi...the god Aphrodi." These words made the forward feel better. Yes, he was a god. He needn't be so nervous.

"I see. I'm your commander, Kageyama Reiji." Kageyama? He should've guessed. "There's not much time to explain, but you have been chosen by me and by Zeus. I want you to go out and recruit a team of gods!" He smirked. It was just as nasty as one of the girl Kageyama's smirks.

"A team of gods?" A team of gods...of which he would be the captain? He liked the sound of that.

As her father explained the mission to the person she'd recruited, Rin quietly stood up and maneuvered around them to the open door. Just before she walked out, she heard her father mutter something about using soccer to crush.

Yes, that's right. Soccer was the reason for every bit of misfortune in her father's life, and in hers. It didn't deserve to exist. She would help her father do anything; she'd help him get rid of and ruin and corrupt soccer-no matter what it took.


	3. Chapter 3

The buzzing of Kidou's phone distracted him from his homework. After he read the caller ID, though, he decided that his schoolwork could wait a few minutes.

"Onii-chan!"

"Hello, Haruna. How are you?" Kidou smiled upon hearing his sisters voice. Even though the two had been on much better terms since the Football Frontier preliminaries had finished, they hadn't been able to see each other much since.

"I'm fine. What are you up to?"

"Homework, unfortunately." Kidou sighed and rubbed his eyes, his goggles discarded to a corner of his desk.

" _Homework?!_ " She shouted, making Kidou wince and hold the phone away from his face. "Your game is tomorrow! You should be preparing!"

He could clearly envision how angry she must look right now. Kidou chuckled at the image, despite her scolding. "I know, I know. But don't worry, I'm sure these Zeus guys are nothing special."

"You're sure...?" She said hesitantly.

"Even if they are, Teikoku will beat them." Kidou smirked. "You have my word!"

"...All right. Good luck, Onii-chan! I'll be rooting for you!"

* * *

The game was about to start. So why wasn't Zeus there yet?

Kidou sighed as he stared at the empty bench opposite his team's. There were only a few more minutes until the game was supposed to start. Teikoku had already finished warming up, but the other team was nowhere to be seen. Could they be...?

"Hey, Kidou..." Genda started as he came up behind him, "do you think they've thrown the match?"

Kidou paused, thinking a bit. "Maybe...but there's still just a littLe time. Maybe they're just running late."

"But if they don't show up soon, we'll win by default..."

Suddenly, as if on cue, a huge gust of wind swept through the field. It centered around the other bench, swirling around it almost like a twister. Kidou squeezed his eyes shut on reflex, even though he was wearing his goggles. A few seconds passed in silence. Slowly, unsure, Kidou opened his eyes alongside the rest of his teammates.

And there they were. Zeus. Just standing there, relaxed, as if they'd been there the whole time. Kidou's jaw almost went slack at the sight, but he had to keep his cool. He was the captain, after all. He examined the newcomers. Despite the fact that they had quite the odd uniform, they _looked_ normal enough. The pure haughtiness they radiated was a different story, though.

Kidou sighed and turned back around to face his team. "Alright, has everyone finished warming up?" The team nodded silently. "Good, then let's line up."

"Kidou, wait." Sakuma's voice cut through just as everyone was starting to head out toward the field, stopping everyone on the team in their tracks. He opened his mouth, trying to speak, but instead of forming words, he just pointed at the group of newcomers.

Teikoku followed Sakuma's finger, searching for what he found so surprising. Kidou heard all gasps come from the mouths of his teammates as they focused on a single point, one by one. Kidou turned toward where they were looking, his own jaw going slack.

Amidst the smug faces of Zeus, there was one he recognized. She was wearing big sunglasses, just like she always did to imitate _him._ Her hair was in pigtails; that was different, but it was definitely her. And as soon as he saw her, unbearable dread began to pool in his stomach.

He watched as she slowly turned her head to look at Teikoku. They couldn't see her eyes, but Kidou was certain she was looking down on them. She turned around and went to sit on their bench-she must be posing as their manager-and said something to her team. They all nodded before walking calmly out onto the field.

Teikoku, on the other hand, simply stood in shock. They knew who she was. They knew what she meant. Kidou was certain that he wasn't the only one with a pit in his stomach-and he wasn't even going to be playing today! Still, as the captain, he had to convince the team to let go of their hate and fear-and swallow his own, as well.

"Let's win, guys!" Kidou said as he turned back toward his teammates. Thank god his voice didn't crack.

"Yeah..." Their reply was weak as they headed onto the field, but at least they'd said something.

Kidou turned back to look at her, his eyes narrowing underneath his goggles. What was her plan? Or, rather, what was HIS plan?

He could not remember a moment he wanted to be on the field helping out his team than the moment when she looked at him and sneered.


	4. Chapter 4

Soccer was awful.

Soccer took the livelihood of her grandfather and the joy of her father.

This mindset had been hammered into Rin her entire life. She'd never given it a second thought. Those who go against her father-those who foolishly play soccer for fun-they deserve no mercy.

She was willing to do anything to get her revenge.

Still...was it really necessary for her to have to watch her former team being taken off the field on stretchers?

No. Don't think like that. They're not, and never were, truly her teammates. Not after their betrayal. Focus on the mission.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head, Rin plastered a smirk onto her face as the victorious Zeus returned to the bench, even as she felt Kidou's gaze on her. She managed to resist the urge to look at him. She was afraid that whatever look he had on his face would make her waver.

That's right. Focus. They betrayed father _and_ her. They deserve no mercy.

Filled with pride over their victory, Rin congratulated her team.

* * *

Kageyama Reiji stood in front of Zeus, who had just returned. They, despite their pridefulness, had to fight against looking away. Even with the Aqua of the Gods strengthening them, this man was still terrifying. "Today's match was a success. The formula has proven more than adequate in action."

Rin, standing beside her team, nodded as she listened to her father. "Teikoku was defeated and out of action within minutes," she added.

Kageyama smirked behind his folded hands. "Indeed. Each player is rotting in the hospital."

Rin tensed slightly, her expression unreadable underneath her glasses. "The hospital?"

Red eyes flickered over to study her.

"Yes, of course. Now, our next step will be discussed later. We will crush Raimon next, once and for all. Dismissed." With that, Kageyama Reiji walked off.

Zeus bowed and filed out the door, relaxing and chatting with one another. Rin watched them go with cold eyes. They shouldn't be so carefree.

One stayed, however. Rin turned around to see Aphrodi staring at her with a furrowed brow. She raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"

"May I have a word?"

"...Spit it out."

Aphrodi barely clicked his tongue, trying to hide his annoyance. Rin frowned. Ever since he'd been recruited, his arrogance had been growing. Yes, she'd taken advantage of low self esteem when recruiting all of Zeus. Some of their egos, though, had begun to inflate so much that they were being cocky toward her and their Commander. Especially Aphrodi. Unacceptable.

"You didn't seem too happy to hear about Teikoku's condition." He narrowed his eyes. Brat.

Rin chuckled. "Your delusions are as prominent as ever, I see."

"You faltered."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You must not waver, not even a slight bit, in order to be a part of this mission."

Her scowl grew with every word he said, but it was his next statement that made her seeth.

"Are you sure you have what it takes?"

Her eyes narrowed. "How dare you say that to me?" Though her voice was calm, her words still caused Aphrodi's eyes to widen as he took a step back. Good. He needed to learn his place. Rin smirked. She had him now.

"You're so proud of what you've become, but don't forget that it was _me_ who found you. I gave you an opportunity to become more that the pathetic wimp you've been your whole life. And it was Commander who trained you and gave you power. Without us, you would be _nothing._ "

She left him with a hanging jaw and a flicker of what he once was in his eyes as she walked out of the room.


End file.
